Nurses are well placed to detect, assess, and implement conservative management strategies for people with bladder, bowel or pelvic floor dysfunction. This State-of-the-Art Round Table Session describes the breadth and scope of different types of continence nursing models of care and presents data about their cost effectiveness. It draws on several sources of evidence:

• A white paper and survey published by the Society of Urological Nurses Association on the role of the continence nurse specialist.
• A synthesis of evidence on the social and economic impacts of continence nursing models of care.
• An internationally applicable service specification for continence care in primary care.
• A randomized controlled trial on the cost effectiveness of involving nursing specialists for adults patients with urinary incontinence in primary care.
  This Round Table will present and discuss the model and suggest action that might be taken to improve care.

Forum Chair: Joan Ostaszkiewicz

Length: 60 minutes

Level: Advanced

References

• Albers-Heitner P, Berghmans B, Joore M, Lagro-Janssen T, Severens J, et al. (2008) The effects of involving a nurse practitioner in primary care for adult patients with urinary incontinence: the PromoCon study (Promoting Continence). BMC Health Serv Res 8: 84
• Albers-Heitner P, Winkens R, Berghmans B, Joore M, Nieman F, et al. (2013) Consumer satisfaction among patients and their general practitioners about involving nurse specialists in primary care for patients with urinary incontinence. Scand J Caring Sci 27: 253–259.
• Newman, D. K., Carillo, M., Talley, K., Starr, J. A., Thompson, D., & Wyman, J. F. (2024). Advancing the Roles of the Registered Nurse and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse in Continence and Pelvic Health Care in the United States: A White Paper. Urologic Nursing, 44(2), 64–89. https://doi.org/10.7257/2168-4626.2024.44.2.64
• Paterson J, Ostaszkiewicz J, Darma Suyasa I, Skelly J, Bellefeuille L. (2016). The development and international validation of the role profile of the Nurse Continence Specialist. Journal of Wound, Ostomy & Continence Nursing. 43(6):641-647
• Talley, K. M. C., Wyman, J. F., Berry, A., & Newman, D. K. (2022). Comparison of Professional Roles Between Urologic Nurses, Advanced Practice Providers, and Therapists Who Provide Continence Care: Results of a Cross-Sectional Survey. Urologic Nursing, 42(4), 165–176. https://doi.org/10.7257/2168-4626.2022.42.4.165
• Wagg AS, Newman DK, Leichsenring K, van Houten P. Developing an internationally applicable service specification for continence care: systematic review, evidence synthesis and expert consensus. PLoS One. 2014 Aug 14;9(8):e104129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104129

Biographies
Dr Joan Ostaszkiewicz (Chair) PhD, RN, MNurs-Res, is a Research Program Manager at the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) in Australia. She is also an Honorary Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Adjunct Professor of Health and Innovation Transformation Centre at Federation University and Visiting Professor at the Gellar Institute for Ageing and Memory at the University of West London. As a Registered Nurse and an academic, Joan’s research expertise is the care of frail older people with continence care needs. Her research outcomes include: knowledge translation resources to promote best practice; a new paradigm for the management of incontinence among care-dependent older adults, termed the Dignity in Continence Care Framework; a best practice model of continence care for long-term care; and more recently, a Massive Open Online Course about caregiving, dementia and incontinence.

Associate Professor Kristine Talley, PhD, RN, CNP, FGSA, is an Associate Professor holding the Long Term Care Professorship in Nursing and a Co-Director for the Minnesota Northstar Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program. As a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and a board-certified gerontological nurse practitioner with a PhD, she is recognized for improving older adults' health by conducting research on geriatric syndromes like incontinence, training the geriatric workforce, and advocating for Age-Friendly health care. She has been recognized as a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence for her excellence in instructing both graduate and undergraduate courses focused on the nursing care of older adults. .

Dr. Adrian Wagg MB, FRCP (Lond), FRCP (Edin), FCGS, FHEA, is a specialist in Geriatric and General Medicine with expertise in health services research. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta and Professor of Continence Sciences at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Dr. Wagg has significant front-line experience in healthcare administration and systems development, a strong knowledge of operational issues and an in-depth perspective of healthcare of older adults. His research interests involve improving care for people with urinary incontinence, community engagement and the quality of care for older people in nursing homes. He is active in national and international clinical practice guideline development and is the Co-Chair of the International Consultation on Incontinence; prior to this he was General Secretary of the International Continence Society. In his service to the community, he participates in numerous other activities promoting health literacy and healthy ageing.

Dr Bary Berghmans, is co-founder and senior researcher of the Pelvic care Center Maastricht, the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Maastricht and the Department of Urology at the Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht , The Netherlands. He also owns a private clinic for (pelvic) physiotherapy and oversaw the development of national and international guidelines for conservative treatment for urinary and faecal incontinence on behalf of the Royal Dutch Association of Physiotherapy. He is also member of the multidisciplinary ICS/IUGA committee for the standardization of terminology of female pelvic floor dysfunctions, terminology of conservative treatments for pelvic floor dysfunctions, and of female ano-rectal dysfunctions. He is member of the ICS faculty for International Educational courses, chairman of the IUGA Special Interest Group Female Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation, the IUGA Publications Committee and IUGA Educational Committee, and chairman of the EUGA Committee Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation. He is honorary member of the Pan Arab Continence Society.